


Crown of Thorns

by thedemonkingawakes



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, NaNoWriMo, Original Fiction, Original work - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 04:52:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6142099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedemonkingawakes/pseuds/thedemonkingawakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What is life to the person that has lost everything?</p>
<p>Her family ripped apart by war, a blade of Aquarian steel in her hand, Kai has dedicated her whole life to one thing: Revenge. Those who stand against her fall, never to be seen again. But war is coming, and if Kai hopes to survive it she will have to do something she never expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crown of Thorns

**Author's Note:**

> This is an original, novel length fiction that I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2014. I don't know how frequently I will be updating this story. 
> 
> I welcome CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

Kai stumbled out of the water, drawing a glamour over herself to conceal her true appearance. Her tail tingled as it completed its transformation into a pair of long legs. A ragged piece of sailcloth lay trapped under the driftwood that littered the beach. Kai jerked it free and wrapped it around herself, tying it in place with a long piece of seaweed. The rough material scratched her tender skin uncomfortably. Kai took a step forward and nearly fell, her legs unused to the land after weeks at sea.   
“Are you alright, miss?” Strong hands caught her, steadying her. Once she had regained her balance, Kai took a step back, unconsciously putting more power into her glamour. The voice was...familiar. She had heard it once before, in the Southern Isles. Kai took another step backwards, fighting back the panic rising inside her. She glanced up, not quite meeting the stranger’s eyes. He was young, with hair the color of chestnuts and dark grey eyes.   
“Miss?”   
Kai nodded, letting her long hair fall forward to cover her face. With the glamour in place, it would look like a burnished bronze sheet, rippling in the soft breeze that blew off the sea. She curtsied and started to walk away from the dark haired man. Her legs had adjusted to the shifting sands, and Kai walked as fast as she could without running.   
The young man whistled. In the distance, but growing closer with every second, Kai could hear the barking of a dog. Under her breath, she muttered something distinctly un-ladylike. Why did there have to be a dog? Almost unconsciously, Kai’s hand twitched towards the needle-thin knife tucked into her hair.   
“Wait!” the young man called. “Miss, where are you going?”   
A boisterous laugh echoed across the beach. Another set of footsteps joined the stranger’s. Kai resisted the urge to turn and look as an unfamiliar voice rang out.   
“Sadie, slow down girl.” The voice was loud and full of mirth. “Wait for me.”  
A shaggy black dog raced down the beach, cutting across Kai’s path. Kai stopped in her tracks, staring at the giant dog in front of her. The dog jumped up, planting it’s oversized front paws on her bare shoulders and trying to lick her face. Kai pressed her lips together tightly to keep from making a sound, fingers reaching towards the knife concealed in her hair.   
The dark haired stranger whistled sharply. “Heel, Sadie.”   
The black dog trotted contritely back to the man’s side and flopped down in the sand.   
“Apologies, miss.” The second man bounded over to stand face to face with Kai. He was the light to the first man’s dark, with sandy blond hair and clear blue eyes. “It seems my friend forgot to introduce himself. I’m Max, and my awkward friend over there is Bren.” He grinned. “And that furry black thing over there is my dog, Sadie.”   
“ _My_ dog.” Bren corrected.   
Kai felt the corner of her mouth twitch up in a smile as she started walking again, her back to Max and Bren. Max spun around, keeping pace with her as he walked backwards.   
“Where are you going, miss? You shouldn’t be out here alone.” Bren strolled after them. Sadie sprung up, trotting along at his side, her long pink tongue hanging out of her mouth.   
“Can you talk?” Max asked.   
Kai shook her head slightly, never slowing her pace. She could feel her heart racing. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This never happened. No one saw her. Not unless she wanted to be seen.   
“Alright. I’ll talk. You can listen. Bren and I need something to call you. How about...Cobalt?”   
Kai glared at him, slowing her pace slightly. Max grinned back, his clear blue eyes sparkling with laughter.   
“Raven.” Bren spoke up from behind Kai. “For the single raven tress in a sea of bronze.”   
Mentally, Kai berated herself. She had poured too much power into the glamour, and weakened as her powers were on land, she didn’t have the energy to maintain it for much longer. Now it was slipping, letting pieces of her true appearance show through. She didn’t reject the suggestion, too focused on holding the remains of her glamour in place, so Max took it as a yes.   
“Well, Raven, what brings you to Braevell? I hope it’s not the ball, because I’ve heard the prince is a real bore.” Kai didn’t miss the look Max shot Bren over her shoulder. She filed the information about the ball away as Max kept talking. “I haven’t seen you around before, which is a surprise, because I thought I knew all the beautiful women in the kingdom.”   
Kai blinked in surprise, feeling a faint flush spread across her cheeks. Her sisters were beautiful, she was always just cute. Only one other person had ever called her beautiful.   
Max opened his mouth to start talking again, but instead, he tripped over a piece of driftwood and fell flat on his ass. Kai skirted around the wood and kept walking, silently chuckling. Sadie darted away from Bren, keeping pace with Kai for a few moments. She loped happily across the beach alongside Kai, her large paws kicking up clumps of sand.   
Bren whistled and Sadie skidded to a stop, showering Kai in a spray of sand. As Kai passed out of sight of the two boys, she heard Bren helping Max to his feet.   
“Up you go. You should really watch where you’re going, Max.” Bren said, chuckling. “You wouldn’t trip nearly as much if you did.”   
Max’s response was lost in the wind as Kai rounded an outcropping of rocks. She sat down on one of them, trying to get her bearings. Further up the beach, the sand shifted to dirt and tall trees created an effective barrier from the rest of the world. The beach continued its meandering path, growing rockier as it passed out of sight. Kai stood up and made her way to the treeline. She picked her way along the edge of the trees, following the meandering path of the beach. The coast of Braevell was pockmarked with coves and inlets. Kai kept to the treeline until she reached a small, sheltered cove not too far from where she had come ashore.   
Rocks dotted the shore of the cove. Kai knelt down, scraping away the sand behind a large rock. Just below the surface, Kai’s hands encountered something hard and rough. She brushed away the sand, revealing a long object wrapped in a square of sailcloth. Kai picked up the object, unwrapping it and tossing the sailcloth aside. A long knife, made of a hard, blue-tinted metal, lay in her hands. The hilt was wrapped in plain leather, a single round aquamarine set at the top. Kai turned it over in her hands, feeling its familiar weight. The blade was warm from the sun and the sand that had hidden it from view.   
Kai reached for the sailcloth again, pulling out an old leather sheath. She tied it to her leg just above the bottom of her dress. Before she sheathed the knife, Kai turned it over in her hands again, her fingers closing around the hilt. Satisfied, she slid her knife into the sheath and stood up, striding back up the beach towards the road.   
As she walked, Kai mulled over her situation. She would need supplies if she was to stay in Braevell for long, and she had no money, or at least none that would be of use in this realm. If she had to, Kai knew she could steal materials from the shops in town. She could probably even do it without drawing attention to herself. Kai bit back a sigh. That was a last resort. None of the shops in Oralion could afford the loss. King Cindlaor’s taxes made certain of that.   
Kai shook her head. She didn’t want that on her conscious. Not again. Too many lives had been destroyed because of her. She didn’t want to add any more names to that list. Kai’s hand moved unconsciously to finger the thin metal chain around her throat. Too many lives. She rubbed the small flower charm with her thumb.   
She could sell her mother’s necklace. The thought flitted across Kai’s mind, as fleeting as a gust of wind. Kai clenched her hand into a fist around the charm, dispelling the thought. That wasn’t an option. No matter how desperate she got, she wouldn’t sell her last link to her mother. Kai rubbed her thumb across the flower’s textured surface again before she let her hand drop back down to her side.   
Kai scrubbed a hand across her face. She wanted to scream. She had nothing to sell, nothing to trade, no money for supplies. Kai shook her head, tucking her hair back behind her ears. Oralion was a league and a half away. The walk would give her time to think, and to plan. Kai took deep breath, letting the crisp autumn air fill her lungs. Oralion. Home to the harbringer of death, the murderer, King Cindlaor. 


End file.
